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TAMPA, FL (February 14, 2014) – Billy Moyer survived a back-and-forth battle with John Blankenship to win the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series event on Friday Night at East Bay Raceway Park. Moyer denied Blankenship’s first ever win at East Bay by taking the lead with eight laps to go from Blankenship and went unchallenged the remaining laps. With his win Moyer scored his 778^th win of his career. Blankenship finished second, followed by Scott Bloomquist, Don O’Neal, and Gregg Satterlee rounded out the top five.

“The car was just phenomenal all night long. When he (Blankenship) got around me, I thought I was in trouble. There was a bunch of heavy traffic, and I lost contact with him. That caution about halfway through the race really helped me,” said Moyer.

“On the restart I was able to stay with him [Blankenship]. It looked like his car was going away a little bit, then we had that last caution with nine to go, and I was thinking I had a real good shot at him. We were able to get out of the corners better than him. His [Blankenship’s] car would drift up the track, and that’s when we passed him,” said Moyer.

The two drivers put on a spectacular feature event, running side-by-side several times until Moyer was able to finally clear Blankenship. “I can’t thank the people at Longhorn Chassis enough; Bobby and Terry Labonte, Kevin Rumley, and everybody else for making this transition easy. I want to thank Clements Racing Engines, the power that I have is second-to-none.”

Blankenship had everything going his way when he passed Moyer for the lead with nine laps scored. “When we got the lead early, I was thinking maybe tonight was the night when we would finally get a win here. I knew I was a sitting duck there in the last ten laps. Our car was getting looser and he (Moyer) was getting faster. Congrats to Billy on the win, they deserved it. We will come back tomorrow and shoot for the victory,” said the driver of the Coal: Save the Country, Rocket Chassis.

Bloomquist was in the thick of things at the end as he fought to a third-place finish. “Our car has been pretty fast this entire week here. We keep making adjustments on it, and it has definitely helped. Those two [Moyer and Blankenship] were just a little bit better than us tonight. I have to thank a new sponsor that has come on board with us this year, Ole Smokey Moonshine.”

Completing the top ten were Earl Pearson Jr., Jimmy Owens, Steve Francis, Eddie Carrier, Jr., and Ray Cook.

In preliminary action, Steve Francis set the overall Miller Welders Fast Time (Group B) amongst the ­45 entrants, with a lap of 14.034 seconds. Billy Moyer set the fastest time in Group A with a time of 14.144 seconds. Billy Moyer, Gregg Satterlee, John Blankenship, and Earl Pearson Jr. won their respective heat races. Billy Moyer Jr. and Brian Shirley won their respective B-Mains.

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Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series

Race Summary

Friday Night, February 14th, 2014
38th Annual East Bay Winternationals
East Bay Raceway Park – Tampa, FL

Miller Welders Fast Time Group A: Billy Moyer/ 14.144 seconds

Miller Welders Fast Time Group B: Steve Francis/ 14.034 seconds

Fast Shafts Heat Race #1 Finish (10 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): Billy Moyer, Scott Bloomquist, Eddie Carrier Jr., Booper Bare, Davey Johnson, Kevin Weaver, Nick Davis, Jason Papich, Dustin Mitchell, Leon Henderson, Adam Bowman

Eibach Springs Heat Race #2 Finish (10 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): Gregg Satterlee, Jimmy Owens, Kenny PettyJohn, Jared Landers, Billy Moyer Jr., Bobby Pierce, Joe Denby, Jay Brunson, Chad White, James O’Hara, Justin Rattliff

Simpson Performance Products Heat Race #3 Finish (10 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): John Blankenship, Steve Francis, Ray Cook, Dan Stone, Randy Weaver, Eric Jacobsen, Mike Benedum, Jason Hughes, Chad Stapleton, Dennis Franklin, John Mollic

FK Rod Ends Heat Race #4 Finish (10 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): Earl Pearson Jr., Don O’Neal, Ricky Weiss, Dennis Erb Jr., Brian Shirley, Chad Hollenbeck, Devin Moran, Vic Coffey, Jay Morris, Andy Bond, Jason Riggs

JRi Shocks B-Main #1 (12 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): Billy Moyer Jr., Davey Johnson, Kevin Weaver, Bobby Pierce, Jason Papich, Justin Rattliff, Nick Davis, Chad White, Jay Brunson, Leon Henderson, Dustin Mitchell, James O’Hara, Adam Bowman, Joe Denby, Bob Geiger-DNS

CV Products B-Main #2 (12 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): Brian Shirley, Randy Weaver, Eric Jacobsen, Devin Moran, Mike Benedum, Chad Hollenbeck, Jason Hughes, Dennis Franklin, Vic Coffey, Andy Bond, Jay Morris, Chad Stapleton, John Mollick, Jason Riggs

Feature Finish (50 Laps):

Non-Qualifiers Race Finish: Mike Benedum, Jason Papich, Nick Davis, Joe Denby, James OHara, Chad Stapleton, Justin Rattliff

Race Statistics

Entrants: 48

Lap Leaders: Billy Moyer (Laps 1 – 8); John Blankenship (Laps 9 – 37); Billy Moyer (Lap 38); John Blankenship (Laps 39 – 44); Billy Moyer (Laps 39 – 44)
Caution Flags: Brian Shirley, Kevin Weaver, Billy Moyer Jr., Devin Moran, Chad Hollenbeck, Davey Johnson (Start); Brian Shirley (Lap 25); Billy Moyer Jr., Bobby Pierce (Lap 25); Jared Landers (Lap 41)

Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Provisionals: N/A

Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Emergency Provisionals: N/A
Lucas Oil Fast Time Provisionals: Chad Hollenbeck; John Mollick
Hedman Hedders Fast Time Provisional: Devin Moran
DirtOnDirt.com Strawberry Dash Winner: Bobby Pierce

Wrisco Feature Winner: Billy Moyer

Optima Batteries Hard Charger of the Race: Dennis Erb Jr. (Started: 16th; Finished: 11th; Advanced: 5 positions)

Keyser Mfg Spoiler Challenge Point Leader: N/A
Allstar Performer of the Race: John Blankenship

Sunoco Race for Gas Highest Finisher: Billy Moyer

Dunn Benson Ford Rookie of the Race: N/A
Midwest Sheet Metal Highest Finishing Rookie: N/A

COMP Cams Engine Builder of the Race: Clements Racing Engines

Ohlins Shocks Chassis Builder of the Race: Longhorn Chassis

Outerwears Crew Chief of the Race: Steve Norris (Billy Moyer)
HAWK Performance Fastest Lap of the Race: Billy Moyer – Lap 8 – 14.430 seconds

Time of Race: 28 minutes 28 seconds

Lucas Oil Championship Point Standings: